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Whispers from Eternity

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Many poetic works can inspire, but few, like this one, have the power to change your life. These verses rank with the greatest mystical poetry of all time: the works of St. John of the Cross, Rumi, Kabir, Mirabai, and Omar Khayyam. In this book Paramhansa Yogananda—the great master of yoga and author of the classic Autobiography of a Yogi—shares his exquisitely beautiful thoughts and words filled with longing for the divine. Yogananda was not only a spiritual master, but a master poet, whose poems revealed the hidden divine presence behind even everyday things.

Each of these prayer-poems has been spiritualized by this great man of God. Open this book, pick a poem at random and read it. Mentally repeat whatever phrase appeals to you. Within a short time you will see your consciousness transformed. This book has the power to rapidly accelerate your spiritual growth, and provides hundreds of delightful ways for you to begin your own conversation with God.

Paramhansa Yogananda

Paramhansa Yogananda (often spelled "Paramahansa" Yogananda) was born on January 5, 1893 in Gorakhpur, India. He was the first yoga master of India to permanently live and teach in the West. Yogananda arrived in America in 1920, and traveled throughout the United States on what he called his "spiritual campaigns." His enthusiastic audiences filled the largest halls in America. Hundreds of thousands came to see the yogi from India. At some packed venues thousands were turned away nightly. A national sensation, Yogananda's lectures and books were extensively written about by the major media of the era, including Time magazine, Newsweek, and Life. He was even invited to the White House by President Calvin Coolidge. Yogananda continued to lecture and write up to his passing in 1952.

Yogananda's initial impact was truly impressive. But his lasting impact has been even greater. Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, first published in 1946, helped launch a spiritual revolution throughout the world. His message was nonsectarian and universal. Yogananda's Guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, sent him to the West with the admonition, "The West is high in material attainments, but lacking in spiritual understanding. It is God's will that you play a role in teaching mankind the value of balancing the material with an inner, spiritual life."

Yogananda brought clarity to hundreds of thousands of people regarding the ancient teachings of India—previously shrouded in the cultural assumptions and terminology of an era long past. These teachings include the path of Kriya Yoga, which Yogananda called the "jet-airplane" route to God, consisting of ancient yoga techniques to hasten the spiritual evolution of the student.

"The true basis of religion is not belief, but intuitive experience. Intuition is the soul's power of knowing God. To know what religion is really all about, one must know God," said Paramhansa Yogananda, as recorded in the book The Essence of Self-Realization. He further wrote that "Self-realization is the knowing in all parts of body, mind, and soul that you are now in possession of the kingdom of God; that you do not have to pray that it come to you; that God's omnipresence is your omnipresence; and that all that you need to do is improve your knowing."

Swami Kriyananda

Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters, 1926–2013) was a direct disciple of the great spiritual master Paramhansa Yogananda (author of the classic Autobiography of a Yogi), a bestselling author, and an internationally known lecturer and composer. Widely recognized as one of the world's foremost authorities on meditation and yoga, he taught these principles and techniques to hundreds of thousands of students around the world.

In 1968 Kriyananda founded Ananda Village in Nevada City, California, dedicated to spreading the spirit of friendship, service, and community around the globe. Ananda is recognized as one of the most successful intentional communities in the world, and more than 1,000 people reside in Ananda communities in the US, India, and Italy. The European retreat and community located in Assisi, Italy, also serves Ananda meditation groups in Europe and Russia.

An advocate of simple living and high thinking, Swami Kriyananda's more than 140 books cover a wide range of subjects emphasizing the need to live wisely by one's own experience of life, and not by abstract theories or dogmas.

A composer since 1964, Kriyananda wrote over 400 musical works. His music is inspiring, soothing, and uplifting. Many of his later albums are instrumental works with brief affirmations or visualizations. Chuck Dilberto of Awareness Magazine wrote, “[His] words and music are full of his life and light. His sole intention is to heal, something we could all use during these chaotic times.”

Through Crystal Clarity Publishers, his works have sold over 3 million copies worldwide and have been translated into more than 25 languages.

Preamble, by Swami Kriyananda
Foreword, by Amelita Galli-Curci
Whispers from Eternity
Key to Demands
Hints to the Reader
Watching the Cosmic Motion Picture of Life

SACRED DEMANDS TO THE INFINITE

Demands for Developing Cosmic Consciousness
1. Cosmic Salutation
2. We demand of Thee as Thy Children
3. Demand for Recharging the Body-Battery
4. Spiritual Interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer
5. Thou Art the best Bomb-Shelter
6. Universal prayer in the Cosmic Temple
7. Worshipping the Cosmic Idol
8. Salutation to the Great Preceptor
9. Thou Mother of Flames, show Thy Face, too long hidden behind the
veil of Thy Cosmic Motion Picture
10. Demand for the Opening of Spiritual Temple Doors everywhere
11. Prayer at Dawn
12. Prayer at Noon
13. Prayer at Eventide
14. Prayer at Night
15. Prayer-demand before taking food
16. Prayer-Demand for recharging the Body-Battery
17. Prayer before practicing Concentration
18. Demand for the Pearls of Wisdom, obtained in the Sea of Meditation
19. Prayer for expanding Love from myself to all my brethren
20. A bouquet of all Loves of God
21. Prayer-Demand to the Holy Vibration for Omnipresence
22. Prayer-Demand for Self-Realization
23. Prayer-Demand for removing the Cork of Ignorance

INVOCATIONS

24. My Guru
25 .Come to me, O Christ, as the Divine Shepherd of Souls
26. Come to me as Krishna, the Divine Cowherd
27 .Come to me as Swami Shankara
28. Come to me as Moses
29. Come to me as Mohammed
30. Come to me as Buddha

PRAYERS FOR UNIVERSALITY

31. Prayer-Demand asking God to be the President of the United States
of the World
32. Prayer-demand: Make me anything: a Christian or a Hindu—anything
to realize Thee
33. Demand to travel by the one Highway of Realization

MISCELLANEOUS DEMANDS

34. Make me Thy Butterfly of Eternity
35. I will not offer unto Thee mind-made, hothouse Songs
36. Prayers on the Beads of Love
37. Hover, O Mighty Spirit, over the Minaret of my Expectations
38. The Bee of my Mind loves to drink from Thy Blue Lotus Feet
39. May I serve the cocktail of God-Intoxication in the homes of the rich
40. May I seize Thee at Eternity’s end?
41. Wake me, that I may know that the terrors of mundane delusion
are only Dreams
42. I Demand to return Home
43. Make me a lion of Thy all-conquering Wisdom
44. I am Thy Bird of Paradise, wishing to fly in Thy Astral Airplane
45. Come into the Garden of my Dreams
46. Let me feel that Thou and I art One
47. Rock me in the Cradle of all Space
48. May the Niagara of my Joys inundate all hearts
49. Make me the Lark of Life, looking only for Thy Rain
50. Make me a Smile-Millionaire
51. Save us from the net of Matter-Attachment
52. O King of all our ambitions, open the doors of Noble Aspirations in
the Mansion of our Souls
53. Save me from shipwreck on my Ocean of Dreams
54. Tune us, that we may hear Thy Voice
55. I want to build a Rainbow-Bridge of Self-Realization
56. Make me Silent, that I may eloquently converse with Thee
57. Teach me to use every dig of criticism to bring myself nearer to
Thy Fountain of Goodness in me
58. Teach me to fish for Thee in the deep waters of my Soul
59. Make me remember that Virtuous Ways are more charming than
vicious ones
60. I will broadcast my Voice with the Chorus of Thy Songs
61. Teach me to store honey of good qualities from all Soul-Flowers in
the honeycomb of my Heart
62. Teach me, though crushed by Criticism, to return always Sweet
Forgiveness
63. Spiritualize all our Thoughts and Ambitions
64. Teach us not to follow the Will-o’-the-Wisp of False Happiness
65. May the showers of Thy love flood through the walls of Color, Class,
and Race-Prejudice
66. Burn Thou my frailties in the furnace of trials
67. The Caravan of my Prayers is moving toward Thee
68. Save us from the bait of Modern Comforts
69. May I reap the greatest Harvest in the short season of this Earth Life
70. Make me the Eagle of Progress
71. Flood me with Thy Omnipresent Love
72. O Divine Sculptor, Chisel Thou my Life
73. Keep the Compass Needle of my Attention ever pointing toward Thee
74. Be Thou the General in my invasion of Ignorance
75. Make me see that I am but an actor in Thy Cosmic Motion Picture
76. Teach me to abhor the flies of Sarcasm, which love to sit on the
Wounds of Others
77. Demand for Seeing the One Fire beneath all Soul-Flames
78. Demand for Prosperity. Thou art my Father, I am Thy child
79. Teach me to feel that all Men are my Brothers
80. Demand to be freed from self-created Evil Habits and Temptations
81. Demand for Balance
82. Demand for fervor in Divine Love
83. Demand that, through all tests and trials, the love of God may
never fade
84. Special universal daily demand for Divine guidance
85. Be the Captain of my boat of daily activity
86. Be the Polestar for my ship of thoughts
87. Worship of God as sacred Joy found in Meditation
88. Demand for the enjoyment of everything with the joy of God
89. Demand for Calmness in Activity
90. Demand to love God as all Saints have loved Him
91. Demand that God’s Light drive dark Ignorance away
92. Demand for Healing of any bodily disease
93. Demand for Healing others
94. Demand for ridding the mind of Mental Bacteria
95. Demand for Wisdom
96. Demand for Bliss
97. Demand that my bubble of life become the Sea of Life
98. Demand that God respond
99. Demand that God reveal Himself
100. Demand to the Holy Trinity
101. Demand that the Cosmic Sound lead me from ignorance to Wisdom
102. Demand for Thy Light
103. Demand for the opening of the Spiritual Eye, to find God in everything
104. Let all rest in the Shade of my Peace
105. Demand for realizing the expansion of consciousness in the Cosmic Sound
106. Demand for an Immediate Need to be supplied
107. Demand for removal of the Veil of Illusion
108. Demand to see God in Everything
109. Demand to be kept ever Awake and Ready
110. Master Mariner, come, take charge of my Boat
111. Demand to find God at any time, anywhere
112. Demand for Union with the Almighty
113. I want to feel Thee just behind the Voice of my Prayer
114. Demand for the Realization of God’s Presence
115. Prayer between Sleeping and Waking
116. Prayer-Demand for Devotion
117. Prayer-Demand for Illumination
118. Prayer before Meditation
119. Hidden in the ashes of burnt sadness, I found Thy Golden Presence
120. Receive the orphans and the stricken; they have come to Thy door
121. Come to me as Kindness
122. Satisfy my Soul-Hunger
123. O Divine Hart, I will hunt for Thee in the forest of my Soul
124. Make me the Drops of Sympathy in all tearful eyes
125. From peak to peak, and from heart to heart I will Fly, singing Thy name
126. Teach me to Dream Peace with the poppy petals
127. Whether dead or living, I am held in Thine Immortal Arms
128. I beheld Thee hiding behind the Flowers
129. Thou art slowly rising on the horizon of my Mind
130. Demand to see God’s love in all human love
131. Open my Inner Eye
132. Cure my jaundiced Vision of Duality
133. Demand for Quickening Activity
134. Bless me, that I may perceive Thee through the windows of all activities
135. Teach me to perform every Work only to please Thee

PRAYERS OF DEVOTION

136. I bring to Thee the Myrrh of Devotion
137. Intoxicate me with the Wine of Thy Love
138. Open my Soul’s Secret Door
139. I want to hear Thy song in the silence of my Soul
140. Nothing can steal my Love for Thee
141. I will be the naughty baby of the Divine Mother
142. Make me clean again, Divine Mother
143. I loved all things that I might learn to crave only Thee
144. Make me feel Thee through the Touch of the Breeze
145. Help me to Win the Battle of Life
146. Demand to eject enemies of Bad Habits
147. Demand not to be enslaved by the ego, or by ego-centered passivity
148. I offer Thee a Garland of Devotion
149. Demand to set fire to the Forest of Darkness
150. Save me from Wrong Beliefs
151. Lead my body-chariot on the Right Path
152. Teach me not to be deceived by the Senses
153. Teach me, that my Senses contact nothing but the Good
154. Keep me away from Evil
155. Demand for the opening of the Spiritual Eye, the Eastern Star
of Wisdom
156. Demand for the rising of the Aurora of Intuition
157. Keep my Spiritual Eye open forever
158. With every stroke of my Prayer I move nearer to Thee
159. Demand to be fed with the Cosmic Rays
160. Demand for the Cure of the Anger Habit
161. Demand to be able to Conquer Fear
162. Demand for Control of the Unruly Senses
163. Make me feel that everything is Joy
164. Slip Thy little dewdrop into Thy great lake—not to become lost, but
to merge into oneness with Thee
165. The fire of my ambition, and all my rainbow-dreams, are focused on Thee
166. I have sought to buy everything but Thy plenty. I pray now: Give me
Thyself
167. Teach us to consider no work more important than Thy Work
168. Bury the seeds of my Devotion in Thy heart-soil
169. I want to know: wilt Thou be Mine?
170. Teach me to drown in Thy Light and Live
171. I want to pour the scent of gratefulness at Thy feet
172. My Soul-Submarine is searching for Thee
173. Bless me, that I may know that I am Dreaming, even though my
senses tell me I am Awake
174. I locked my Sacred Aspirations in my Soul-Vault
175. Dance in me Thy dance of Infinity
176. We are Thy sense-burned children, wailing for Thy help
177. Blow Thy music through my Shattered Reed
178. Heal my Nerves, and install in me new ones, resonant with Thy joy
179. Make us Transparent, that Thy Light may shine through us unimpeded
180. Teach me to Conquer Discord by holding close my own Harmony
181. Baptize me in the flood of Thy Grace
182. Demanding Forgiveness
183. Emerging from the Cocoon of Ignorance
184. I will hop from Eternity to Eternity
185. I want to be Thy Bird of Paradise
186. Bless Thy Hummingbird to drink of Thy honey
187. Many Doors opened before Me
188. Driving the Rebel-King, Ignorance
189. Cure Spiritual Deafness and make me listen to the chorus of Noble
Qualities
190. Teach me to spend for Others as I spend for Myself
191. Teach me to spend for God’s work as I spend for myself
192. Teach me to see Thine Omnipresent Spirit suffering in the sick
193. Let my songs resound with the magic power of Thy Voice
194. I will be Thine always
195. I Baptize myself in the waters of my Tears of Love
196. Reinforce, Thou, all our blended Prayers
197. Rock me to sleep on Thy Bosom of Peace
198. Perching in the trees of many Lives, I sang Thy songs
199. Endless thrills of delight
200. Teach me to bring all Goodness into the net of my consciousness
201. I vow never again to turn my Gaze from Thee
202. In the Bursts of Blue Brine my spirit bounds with Thee
203. Save us from Religious Bigotry
204. Prayer-demand to reach the One Highway of Realization
205. Flowers and Skies, heralds of Thee
206. Divine Mother, come Thyself into the waiting Temple of our Love
207. O Divine Mother, I am Thine, for Thou art eternally mine
208. Thou didst reveal Thy silver rays of Speaking Silence
209. In the Temple of United Hearts
210. I pour out my Love at Thy Feet of Immortality
211. All futurity danced in me the Infinite Rhythm
212. With the Torch of our Devotion, blaze away our dark indifference
213. The Rocket of my Love
214. My lost Music sprang from the Heart of everything
215. A million Salutations at Thy petaled feet, O Lotus of Light
216. The imprisoned Bird of Omnipresence was released
217. A Prayer

PRAYER-DEMANDS FOR CHILDREN

218. Thou art Love because my Mother loves me
219. By loving all my Friends may I find Thy love
220. Teach me to give Smiles to all
221. Come to me as Peace in sleep, and as Joy when I am awake
222. Thou art so plainly Present everywhere; I bow to Thee
223. My parents and friends Love me, dear Father, because Thou Lovest me
224. Thou art the Cause of everything: I bow to Thee
225. I bow to Thee in the sunshine, breeze, dawn, and hearts of
Loving Friends
226. Teach me to find Happiness in the Joy of others
227. Teach me to feel Thee as Silence when I close my eyes

CHANTS

Make me the Sea
O God Beautiful
I am Om, I am Om
The Door of my Heart is Open for Thee
Lotus-Feet of Divine Mother
I am He; I am He!
My India
The Lost Two Black Eyes
I Am HereSamadhiOm
God! God! God!
All Bow to Thee
God’s Boatman
Flight
My Devotion
After This
Shadows
Wherever We Go
Thy Divine Gypsy
Listen to My Soul Song
Fountain of Smiles
In the Land of Dreams
Friendship
To the Aurora Borealis
Thou and I are One
I Was Made for Thee
Thy Home-Coming

OUR DREAM-WORLD

Dreams of God
The Cosmic Dream-Idol
Conquering Fear of Death

Glossary

SACRED DEMANDS
TO THE INFINITE

Demands for Developing Cosmic Consciousness

O you, who have come to the portals of this book of prayer-demands: Pass not by in haste. Enter and bathe in the sacred pool of God’s love, hidden in the still, deep waters of meditation.

Every day, take one prayer-demand at a time, and read it carefully. First, get the intellectual concept, and concentrate on it, addressing yourself to God with focused, unceasing, urgent mental whispers.

Your demand must be individualized. Fragrant flower-thoughts will blossom in your heart from that original prayer-plant—thoughts born of concentration and inner experiences, and watered by the divine dew of that grace which is attracted by meditation.

Each thought-empowered word shall then wear for you a bright, flaming garment. Each word shall be a guiding torchlight in the procession of your prayer-thoughts as you march toward God. Each word will spread light to illumine the path of some lost brother on the way. Each word-song will sing a song that God Himself has sung, revealing some lost gem of truth. Each word torch will illumine some dark corner in your mind. Each thought will pour forth a silent sermon of His sacred Bliss. Each feeling note will reverberate with the presence of His love everywhere, and will wake sleeping souls to hear His ever-blissful voice summoning you, and all mankind: “Come home!”

1

Cosmic Salutation
(Inspired by the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu Bible)

O Spirit, I bow to Thee in front of me, behind me, on the left, and on the right. I bow to Thee above and beneath. I bow to Thee all around me. I bow to Thee within and without. I bow to Thee everywhere, for Thou art everywhere.

2

We demand of Thee
as Thy Children

Thou art our Father. We are made in Thine image. We are Thy children. We neither ask nor pray as beggars, but demand of Thee, as Thy children, the gifts of wisdom, salvation, health, happiness, and eternal joy. Whether naughty or good, we are still Thy children, all of us. Help us to perceive and understand, inwardly, Thy will for us. Teach us the independent use of our human will (since Thou gavest it to us to use freely), attuned to Thy wisdom-guided will.

3

Demand for Recharging
the Body-Battery

O Spirit, teach us to heal our bodies by re-charging them with Thy cosmic energy; to heal our minds by concentration and pleasant smiles; and our souls by meditation-born intuition.

May the religion of matter-worship be converted into loving, direct worship of Thee. Since, without Thy power to love, we cannot truly love anything, may we love Thee first and above everything else. May the heavenly kingdom of Bliss, where Thou dwellest, manifest itself with all its divine qualities on earth, and may all lands be freed from limitations, imperfections, and miseries. Let Thy kingdom within us manifest itself without.

Father, leave us not in the pit of temptations, into which we fell by the misuse of Thy gift of reason. When we become freer and stronger—should it be Thy wish to test us, to see whether we love Thee more than any temptation—then, Father, make Thyself more tempting than temptation! O Father, if it be Thy wish to test us, help us keep our will power strong enough to meet all Thy tests.

Give us our daily bread: food, health, and prosperity for the body; efficiency for the mind; and, above all, Thy wisdom and love for our souls. Teach us to deliver ourselves, with Thy help, from the meshes of ignorance which we have woven through our own carelessness.

5

Thou Art the best Bomb-Shelter

When clouds of devastating war rain fire and death, I will not forget that Thou, O God, art my best Bomb-Shelter. In life and death, in disease, famine, pestilence, and poverty, I cling to Thee who alone canst show me that, in all dualities of life-experiences, my soul remains unharmed. Thou wilt ever protect me, and make me realize that I am immortal, untouched by the changing conditions of childhood, youth, and age, and of world conditions, whether in peace or in upheaval.

6

Universal prayer in the Cosmic Temple

With a myriad of living thoughts of devotion, I have built for Thee a temple of awakened silence. I have brought the multicolored lamps of wisdom from all valid faiths. They shine with the luster of Thy one truth.

The commingled incense of human craving for Thy love soars up in spirals from the incense-bowl of our hearts. Thy sacred presence shines on altars everywhere.

All prayers of all temples, tabernacles, churches, mosques, and viharas are chanting to Thee in the universal language of deep love. The orchestra of our combined feelings plays in harmony with the chorus of all soul-songs, with the cry of all tears, with the bursting shout of all joys, and with the united anthem of all prayers.

In this wall-less cosmic temple of the soul, we worship Thee our one Father. Be pleased to reveal Thyself to us always. Amen, Aum, Amin.

7

Worshipping the Cosmic Idol

O Infinite Spirit, I shall worship Thee today as finite. O Cosmic Silence, I shall hear Thine unheard voice through the murmur of brooks, through the songs of nightingales, through the sound of blown conch-shells, through the beat of ocean waves, and through the hum of all vibrations.

India-wise, in the cosmic temple of my mind, I shall worship Thee ceremoniously, with clanging bells in my heart, O Idol of Finitude! In reverence I shall behold Thy face glowing red with vital power in the sun, and bestowing soothing moonbeam-glances to dispel all gloom.

I shall no more consider Thee unseen, for, in worship, I shall look straight into and through Thy finite, starry eyes to behold Thy mystic heart. With Thy breath in the heaving wind I shall mix my breath, borrowed from Thee. Wordless chants of my yearning for Thee will pulse with the cadence of my heart-throbs. I shall feel Thy heart beating in all hearts. I shall watch Thy hands working in the law of gravitation, and in all cosmic forces. In the footfalls of all living creatures I shall hear Thy footsteps.

In worship I shall behold Thy vast, skiey body, alternately adorned with stars on the dark, twinkling veil of night, and Thy coming light with the pale light of the dawn. I shall behold Thee heralding the night with the grey twilight. O my Cosmic Idol, garlanded with stringed beads of the Milky Way, diademed with the rainbow, festively arrayed with the diamonds of all glittering stars and planets, I bow to Thee!

The glistening skin of the sky perspires rain with Thy life, and Thy blood runs through Thy veins of rivers, streams, brooks and in the blood flow of all men. No more shall I worship Thee as unseen, but as my visible, embodied Cosmic Idol.

The temple-bells of harmony in Nature, the drumbeats of mighty sea-swells, the myriad votive candles of prayer and chanting in all churches (devotion-flowers from the garden of all souls), and the incense of all aspiring loves—all these have I assembled for Thy worship, O visible Idol of my soul!

With open eyes and with the eye of my mind, let me behold Thee, my living Idol of God in Nature. Let me worship Thee vocally and with mental chants, with the bouquet of devotion, with serviceful activity, and with wisdom; above all, let it be with the language of love, with heart-whispers, with tearless tears in meditation, and with the silent sobs of intuition.

8

Salutation to the Great Preceptor
(Sanskrit Scriptures)

Bearing the bliss of Brahma, happiness supreme; wearing the image of wisdom; beyond the dispute of any qualities; free as the limitless sky; Knower of all there is to be known: Thou perennial, taintless one, Witness of all happenings, beyond all conceptions’ boundaries, uncolored by good, bad, and active qualities: my ever-awake Preceptor—I bow to Thee!

O Mother of time, space, form, and relativity: Thou hast taken a finite form—Kali-Divine, colossal idol-symbol of all-sheltering Nature. The invisible Spirit assumed Thy form as our visible Mother Divine. In Thee throbs the heart of all-protecting, mothering kindness.

O Mother Divine! The moon is set like a beauty-mark between Thy two dark eyebrows of twilight and night. Clouds of eternity veil Thy face. Gusts of prophetic lives have tried from time to time briefly to blow away Thy veil of mystery, and momentarily to reveal Thy face, so long unseen by our stares of ignorance. But who, truly, can fathom Thee?

O Mother Divine, in the dawn of creation I beheld Thee on the pathway of time, roaming in the rustic garb of primitive cultures, wearing the garments of untamed Nature and the garlands of unpolished minds that are conscious only of opaque, solid forms.

In the noon-day of creation I beheld Thee in a lustrous garment of sunny minds, scorching men in the hot fire of their own desires. Thy body of activity perspired with restlessness. All Thy children felt the strain of the struggle, and implored Thee for the cooling breeze of Thy peace.

In Thy noon-hour of fulfillment Thou didst visit equally the dark slums of misery, the glad halls of prosperity, and calm shrines of peaceful wisdom.

In Thy mid-day attire of awakening, Thou didst travel through festive centuries, beholding the dream of human life and death, of planetary evolution and dissolution, of the birth and death of civilizations, of the drama of world-unfolding nebulae dreaming new-born planets, of earthquakes, and of limited dissolutions.

Then the dark night of cosmic dissolution approached, and Thou didst wear the dark, grim veil of mourning, putting Creation through the terrible, fiery, but purifying ordeal of universal destruction. The sun burst and belched fire; a cosmic shudder broke the bowl of the sky, dropping embers of meteors; and all Creation became a furnace of flames. Everything became fire: matter, human sins, and darkness—everything was cast into Thy crucible to be made pure and luminous.

Creation emerged again from the fire. Beneath the ashes of matter, the embers of Creation slept for a time, and then, rocked by Thy hands, O Mother Divine, awoke again in its body of pure flames.

Thy one hand of power wakes the unseen, creative force, taking many-hued, finite forms. Another hand holds the astral sword of preservation, keeping all planets swinging in the rhythm of balance. Thy third hand clutches the severed head of the cosmos, representing complete dissolution when all Creation sleeps in Thee. Thy fourth hand calms the storm of delusion and bestows rays of salvation on Thy seeking devotees.

O Kali, Thou Cosmic Mother of all creative activity, garlanded by all human minds; Thy rhythmic, wild dance of creation ceases only when Thy foot touches the breast of Thy Invisible Consort of transcendent Spirit—Shiva, in whom all creation rests.

O Mother of Progress, I hear Thy dance of life in the tinkling little bells of laughing, harmonious lives. On the floor of my tender thoughts, Thine inspirations dance softly in rhythm with the music of the spheres.

In the hall of creation, everywhere, O Kali, I hear Thy footsteps
dancing powerfully in the booming thunder, and softly in the gentle songs of atoms.

The Infinite sleeps beneath Thy magic shroud of delusion. And then, O Goddess of Manifested Forms, Thy fantasy of finitude begins to vibrate on Spirit’s bosom. Nearer dost Thou dance than the very throbbing of my soul; Thy steps resound on the farthest horizons of my mind. Divine Mother, dance where Thou willst, but oh, I pray Thee, play the music of Thy magic footsteps also and ever in the sacred sanctum of my soul!

O Father, when I was blind I found not a door which led to Thee, but now that Thou hast opened my eyes I find doors everywhere: through the hearts of flowers, through the voice of friendship, through sweet memories of all lovely experiences. Every gust of my prayer opens a new door in the vast temple of Thy presence.

1 1

Prayer at Dawn

With the opening of the earliest dawn and the lotus-buds, my soul softly opens in prayer to receive Thy light. Bathe each petal of my mind with Thy radiant rays! I saturate myself with the perfume of Thy presence, and I wait to waft with the breeze the aroma of Thy message of love to all. Bless me, that with the spreading dawn I may spread Thy love everywhere. Bless me, that with the awakening dawn I may awaken all souls with my own and bring them to Thee.

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Prayer at Noon

The sun shines high in the heavens: everything is fully awake. Awaken Thou me, likewise! Thou art invisible, yet Thine energy flows through the rays of sunshine. Fill my veins with Thine invisible rays, making me strong and tireless. As the sun shines in the busiest streets, so may I behold Thy rays of protecting love in the crowded places of my life’s activities. As the light shines steadily, undisturbed, on the street, whether crowded or empty, so may I hold my calmness and my strength steadily while I move through the crowded or empty streets of life. Give me strength. And what I receive, teach me to share with others.

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Prayer at Eventide

The day is done. Refreshed and sanctified with the sunshine of the day I pass through the portals of evening, dimly adorned with faint stars, to enter into the temple of silence and worship Thee. I worship Thy Spirit of approaching calmness. What prayers can I offer? For I have no words to offer Thee. I shall light a little fire of devotion on the altar of my soul. Will that light suffice to bring Thee into my dark temple—my dimly lighted temple, dark with my ignorance? Come! I crave, I yearn for Thee!

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Prayer at Night

With closed eyes I sit in the temple of night, and worship Thee. The sunlight, revealing a million alluring things, has vanished. One by one I have closed the doors of my senses lest the fragrance of the rose or the song of the nightingale distract my love from Thee. I am alone in this dark, dark temple. I have left everything—but, where art Thou? Darkness is haunting; still, unafraid, I am groping, seeking, crying for Thee. Wilt Thou leave me alone? Come, show Thyself!

The door of my memory swings open. Throbbingly thrilled, my heart looks for Thee, but I find Thee not. Halt! Ye thronging, million thoughts and past experiences: come not into my sacred temple! I close the bursting, thought-pressed door and run everywhere to find Thee. Ah! Where art Thou?

Darkness deepens. As I sit silent, in anguish of despair, I behold a little taper of concentration burning within me. I stand up mentally, and madly rush through the dimly lighted temple. The farther I go, the deeper grows the gloom. I clasp the empty darkness in hope of seizing Thee. Finding Thee not, I return again, and see the taper dimly burning.

I sing outwardly a loud prayer. My large teardrops and my strong gusts of prayer almost extinguish the taper. I will pray no more with words, nor rush and run about in the temple of Stygian darkness, nor drown the taper with my tears. I will sit still, and command my breath to make no sound. I rebuke my boisterous love for Thee.

The taper of meditation burns brighter now.

O, how maddening! I cannot worship Thee with words, but only with wistful yearning. Brighter the light grows: I behold Thee now. Thou art I. I worship Thee. As night hides everything, so will I worship Thee in hidden silence.

I am glad with the joy of all minds. I will use the screen of the night to hide myself from the tempting things of the day.

O Night, when I am worried, throw thy veil of silent darkness around me. Create a dark temple for me wherever I go, that I may invoke and call Him, whom I love, at any time, anywhere, everywhere!

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Prayer-demand before taking food

Heavenly Father, receive this food. Make it holy. Let no impurity of greed defile it. The food comes from Thee. It is to build Thy temple. Spiritualize it. Spirit to Spirit goes. We are the petals of Thy manifestation, but Thou art the Flower, its life, beauty, and loveliness. Permeate our souls with the fragrance of Thy presence.

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Prayer-Demand for recharging
the Body-Battery

O Conscious Cosmic Energy, Thou alone dost directly support my body. Solid, liquid, and gaseous foods are converted and spiritualized into energy by Thy cosmic energy. That energy supports my body. Help me to learn, O Spirit, to live more and more by direct cosmic energy, and less and less by food. Thine energy burns in the bulbs of my five senses. I recharge myself with Thine omnipresent, cosmic energy.

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Prayer before practicing Concentration

Teach me, O Spirit, by meditation, to stop the storm of breath, the skipping of my mental restlessness, and all the sensory disturbances that rage on the lake of my mind. Let the magic wand of my intuition halt the gale of passions and unnecessary desires. In the rippleless lake of my mind, then, let me behold the undistorted reflection of the moon of my soul, glistening ever with the reflected light of Thy presence.

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Demand for the Pearls of Wisdom,
obtained in the Sea of Meditation

Divine Father, teach me to dive deep for the pearls of Thy wisdom in the ocean of meditation. Teach me to plunge headlong, protected in the diving suit of conscience, that the sharks of passion may not destroy me. If, by one or two divings, I find not Thy wisdom-pearls, let me not call the sea of meditation devoid of any pearl of Thy wisdom. Teach me, rather, to find fault with my own diving. Teach me to dive again and again in meditation, deeper and deeper always, until I find Thine immortal pearls of wisdom and of joy divine.

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Prayer for expanding Love from myself
to all my brethren

O Divine Mother, teach me to use the gift of Thy love, which I feel in my heart, to love the members of my family more than myself. Bless me, that I may love my neighbors more than my family. Expand my heart’s feelings, that I love my country more than my neighbors, and my world and all my human brethren more than my country, neighbors, family, and my own self.

Lastly, teach me to love Thee more than anything else, for it is only Thy love that enables me to love everything. Without Thee, I could not love anything or anybody.

Father Divine, teach me to enter through the portals of family love, and that of the love of my friends, into the mansion of wider social love. Teach me to pass from there through the doors of social love, and into the wider mansion of international love. Then teach me to pass through the portals of international love into the endless territory of divine love, wherein I perceive all animate and inanimate objects as breathing and living by Thy love alone.

Teach me to tarry not at any alluringly beautiful gate of family, social, or international love. Teach me to pass through all portals that lead to the smaller gardens of love until, passing through the last gate of human love, I enter into the endless territory of divine love where I shall find all living, semi-living, and sleeping things to be my very own.

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A bouquet of all Loves of God

O God my Father, teach me to make a bouquet of the variously hued flowers of filial, conjugal, friendly, parental, and guru-disciple love, and to lay it reverently upon the altar of my heart, where Thou reignest supreme. If I am unable to tie all those flowers into one bouquet, I will pluck the rarest rose of love growing in the garden of my devotion, and lay that one flower at Thy feet. Oh! Wilt Thou receive it?

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Prayer-Demand to the Holy
Vibration for Omnipresence

O Holy Vibration, boom on the shores of my consciousness. Break the limiting boundary of my body-consciousness. Reverberate through my body, mind, and soul—through my surroundings, through all the cities and lands of this earth, through all the planets, throughout the universe and every atom-particle of Creation. Unite my consciousness with Thy cosmic consciousness.

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Prayer-Demand for Self-Realization

O Cosmic Vibration, reverberate through me as the Cosmic, Intelligent Sound. Teach me to find in Thee the presence of the reflected Christ consciousness. O Holy Vibration, lead me to intuit that Christ in Thee.

O omnipresent, cosmic sound of Aum (or Amen), reverberate through me, and expand my consciousness from this body to the whole universe. Teach me to feel in Thee the all-permeating, perennial Bliss of the Supreme Spirit.

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Prayer-Demand for removing the Cork of Ignorance

No more shall my consciousness remain bottled in this little vessel of flesh, corked with ignorance. No more will I remain moving through the sea of cosmic consciousness—night and day, years, decades, and how many incarnations!—so close, yet never able to contact Thy sea. Through the bursting vibration of cosmic sound and the surging of Thy holy name, I have removed the cork of ignorance which so long separated me from Thee, though we lived together so closely! Now my body-consciousness will meet Thy all-surrounding, all-pervading consciousness. No longer will I walk heedlessly, in Thee, but never knowing and feeling Thee. Thine image within me shall meet Thine image everywhere. By releasing the “I-ness” in me, I will know that I am Thou, and that Thou alone art the little egos of us all.

“[A]n unspoken communication between a yogi and the Source. The purity of the[se] prayer-poems [is] innocence in a childlike form and yet it establishes a link with the unknown. [Yogananda] talks about love, devotion, divine guidance, and balance.

“These were trails left behind by a spiritual seeker. The guru pleads for an understanding of all men as brothers. He seeks to feel forgiveness even for the most undeserving among mankind.

“[The author was] baptized in the furnace of spirituality. . . . Whispers from Eternity . . . is . . . a great gift from Paramhansa Yogananda to a world that thirsts for spiritual nourishment.

“Decades after his passing, the bountiful harvest of his meditations is encapsulated in this book. . . . When you have read it at leisure and in silence, you may just catch a glimpse of that eternal light that [Yogananda] saw and understood.”

—Free Malaysia Today

“This is one of my all-time favorite books. Paramhansa Yogananda, who wrote the classic Autobiography of a Yogi, shares his inspiring poem-prayers as well as giving us advice about how to pray. Instead of begging, he says, we need to demand and explains why this is so. By following his advice, we can reach new heights in our understanding of God-Spirit as well as in our relationship to divinity.

“There are prayers for everything from greeting the dawn and starting our day to prayers for wisdom, prosperity, balance, health, and relationships. This edition has been edited by one of Yogananda’s disciples, Nayaswami Kriyananda, so that the words flow a bit better while still remaining true to the content of the original 1949 edition.

“If you’ve been looking for a prayer book, or one that might inspire you to higher thoughts, feelings, and actions, this is the one for you. It was written for people of all religions and beliefs and is dedicated to the ‘soul-temples of Christians, Moslems, Buddhists, Hebrews, Hindus, and others.’ This is a book for everyone, including you.”